Explosion-motor.



Patented Oct. 11, 1910.

G. F. JENKINS.

EXPLOSION MOTOR APPLICATION FILED NOV. 24, 1509.

M m M clmnms EBANCIS JENKINS. or wasnmoron, ms'rmc'r orcomnama.-'

f ExPLosIomMo'roR.

To all whom it may concern:

. lie it known that-l. CHARLES FRANCIS Exams, citizen of the United States, resid- 11151 at Washington, District of Columbia,

have invented certain new and useful m provements n Explosion .L'IOtOlS, of which I the following isa specification.

This invention relates to improvements in what are counnonly known as explosion mo-' tors, or gas engines, and it has especial reference to that class of motors known as twocycle engines mwhich an mdrawn explosive mixture of gas and air is'permitted to enter the cylinder on the uncovering of the inlet port by the downward travel of the piston, and has for its main object the prevention of the ignition of the mixture in the compression chamber by the flame generated Y in the cylinder. This compressionchamber may be the crankcase or another container. Such explosions are known as back-firing and the means heretofore employed is a .fine mesh screen located in the by-pass or transfer passage between the compression chamher and the cylinder. This screen to be of any value must be of very fine gauze to prevent the flame from passing through it and I igniting the combustible chargein the crankcase. Such fine gauze, however. limits the charge and retards the-passage of the mixture from the crank-case to the cylinder. Also because of the line mesh the screen soon chokes with a carbon residue which. impinging-on the screen in a highly heated state. clings tenaciously thereto and is very ditlicultto remove. without destroying the delicat'e screen. Again. this tine-mesh screen not infrequently breaks down under the force of the exploding charge when the intake port is opened at. the end of the -\\'orking stroke. 'lhis latter'dillicnlty is partly overcome in some makes of motors by some form of support for the screemalthongh this adds a further obstruction "to the free passage of the gas.

Although not the best means, miniature perforations of one kind or another. mostcounnonly gauze or fine-mesh screens. are the generally accepted means in many d'itl'erent apparatus for preventing the ignition of a combustible gas from an otherwise unprotected flame. as in liunsen burners, Davy miners safety lamps, etc;

It has been found that these perforations can be made larger and larger as the length of the perftn'ation is made longer and longer.

I Specification of Letters Patent. Patented 11, 1910. Application filed November 24. 1909. Serial No. 523.736. i

Thus, a flame will not pass through a tube or other narrow channel if it is of considerable length. that is, many times its diameter, and this phenomenon does not entirely depend on whether it is a perfect or an imperfect mixture for theflame is chilled to a -non-' inflannnable degree. It has also beenfound .that the pressure in the compression chambet-and the uniformity ofthis pressure has a very important bearing on back-firing and on thc'uniformity of the succeeding charges, that is. on the smooth running of the engine.

To produce this uniformity of pressurefor' driving the gas through the preventive de-' vice, is, therefore. a further cbject of this invention. It has also been found that-to inclose or partially inclose the ignitionde: A

vice. for example. the spark plug, so that the gas next the inlet port shall ignite first adds materially to the prevention of back-firing.

U )011 these three )henomena. sin lv and es- 1 pccially, in conjunction, thepresent invention depends, and by their use the most nnobstructed and uniform passage of gas is effected with perfect immunity from backtiring'. It. is rendered effective by the employment of corrugated or crinkly sheets of metal or other suitable material situated longitudinally in the by-pass between the crankcase and the cylinder. Such channels present practically no obstruction whatever to the freest passage of the gas through the transfer passage andabsolutcly prevent ignition in the crank-ease or other compression chamber. and-on examination after thousands of miles of use in an automobile motor. no carbon deposit was found at any point, in the passages.

The invention is fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application in wluch--;

Y of, that is. means used in con unction with the subdividedby-pass to secure uniformity of gas pressure theretln'ough; 1 1g. 3, a rotary cylinder engine (dmgrannnatically shown) which this combination of back-fire preventive devices permits. and Figs. 4 and 5' details of certain features.

The main portion of the motor includes a cylinder A, A having its lower part of greater diameter than the upper portion, with an annularotl'set from one part to the- Q Tl. 1 I a 4 972,379

other. Below the cylinder is a'crank-case B, serving in this instance merely to protect the smaller upper portion or explosion cha1nber of the cylinder, while the larger lower througha passage t certain parts. \Vithin the cylinder works a correspondingly oil'set piston connected. to a crank C on the power shaft" by a pitman E. g

The supper-portion, D, of this piston fits in part works in the, corresponding portion 0t v the cylinder and serves'to draw into the annular chamber M andt'hen compress successive charges of explosive" mixture Such mixture, when the piston descends, enters provided with an inwardly opening valve 8, and upon the return of the piston is compressed and forced past a valve 8' into a suitable chamber at which c0mmunicates,through along straight.

passa e t of rectangular cross-section, with the lowerpart of the explosion chamber,

, when the piston is near the lower limit of its path. In this passage removablyfits a thin box F open at each end and filled with thin, longitudinally corrugated plates F alternating with thin. plane plates F, whereby the passage is divided into many long, parallel narrow passages through which' tlanie does not readily ass. s

As a fart 181' safeguard, the spark-plug y is placed in-the upper portion of the cylinder and the piston is provided with at correspondingly located recess, peripherally open and adapted to measurablyrrconfine a small portion of the charge which at the moment of ignition surrounds the, sparking point. As shown, this recess is formed by provid-' ing the terminal face of the piston with a projecting wallz of U-shape, the 'free ends of the wall extending approximately to the periphery of the piston, and the since hetwcen those ends, or the outer and o the rcccss, zilincs with the inlet 3 when the piston descends. The mixture in this recess is ignited first, burns and converts its heat into work slightly in advance of the remainder of the charge, and is retained in the recess until the portt is reached. Thus that port is in some degree protected from the area of most active combustion and highest heat, and the I probability of back-firing is lessened. It is also to be noted that the waiting? charge in the chamber n is usually under high compression and for that reason resists outward auovementof gases in the screen passages,-

thus affording anadditional safeguard.

-' The construction secures entire immunity from back firing, and by simple and inexpensive means rarely needing attention or repairs In Fi the construction of a rotary cylinder motor,

that is, a motor in which the crank shaft is stationary and the cylinders revolve around What I claim as my invention, is-

a The combination with an engine cylinder having its lower portion of greater diameter than its upper portion of a piston corre- 3 is diagrammatically illustrated a doub e-opposed motorfin which the en a v larged end of the piston or one motor charges the-cylinder of the other motor, permitting it. It is quite obvious that a four'cylinder 5' 7 motor could thus readily be constructed spondingly ofiset. to fit both portions and irovided at its upper end with a peripherally open recess, a valved conduit leading to the annularchamber in the lower ortion, a second chamber outside the cy inder, a

from the second chamber into the explosion chamber near its lower end, a screen, in the last named passage, consisting of an elonvalved conduit leading from the first cham- 2 her to the second, an inlet passage leading gated box open at each end and filled with i longitudinallv corrugated plates alternating i Z i r 

